Gambler beat habit but lucked out at shoplifting in Mansfield

Court Reporter

A man who successfully beat a chronic gambling habit was caught stealing a jumper in Mansfield, a court heard.

Oliver Tordoff, 27, of Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, admitted taking the £45 jumper from JD Sports, in the Four Seasons shopping centre, and going equipped to steal by carrying a foil-lined bag on May 22.

Bill Soughton, mitigating, said: “I have known Oliver a long time. It was disappointing to see that having stayed out of trouble he’s back before the courts again.”

He said that Tordoff had funded a ‘chronic gambling habit’ by stealing scrap metal.

“It cost him everything,” said Mr Soughton. “His relationship, his access to his children, his relations with his family, his accommodation and his job.

“Literally any money he earned that should have gone towards his family went on gambling.”

Tordoff was sentenced to two years for theft in 2012, said Mr Soughton, and during that time he worked as a chef on day release from HMP Nottingham. After his release he went on an eight-month gambling rehabilitation course in Birmingham.

“Unfortunately, in January this year he had a relapse. He had saved around £8,500 from working towards getting a mortgage. He blew the lot in three hours at the casino.”

Mr Soughton said Tordoff went to a party in Meden Vale the day before his arrest and in the morning he was given a foil-lined bag.

“It is not his modus operandi,” said Mr Soughton. “He says he was still drunk and made a really botched, amateurish attempt.”

He was fined £170 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.

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